The Commerce Department Hires Its First-Ever Chief Data Scientist

Jeff Chen via LinkedIn The U.S. Department of Commerce has hired its first ever chief data scientist (CSO), signaling an increased focus within the department to invest in data-driven software capable of, among other things, “predict[ing] severe weather incidents” and “boosting America’s exports” by leveraging realtime trade information. The man for the job is Jeffrey Chen, previously a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow at NASA and once director of analytics for the New York City Fire Department (NYCFD). Chen will lead a team that “fundamentally change[s] the way people and businesses interact with the department and its bureaus using the power of data science,” it was announced today in an official statement by the Commerce Department. “There’s a lot of transformative work to be done” The move follows the recent…